Dual-bearing reel

ABSTRACT

A dual-bearing reel is disclosed. The dual-bearing reel is configured to release a fishing line forward and includes a reel body, a clutch operating member, a clutch plate, and a fixing member. The clutch operating member is supported on the reel body movably in the up-down direction. The clutch plate is rotatably supported by the reel body and includes an extending portion extending in the axial direction and fixed to the clutch operating member to be integrally movable therewith, and a through hole in the extending portion. The fixing member fixes the clutch operating member to the extending portion via the through hole of the clutch plate. The through hole has a clearance with respect to the fixing member in the axial direction.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No.2018-110995, filed Jun. 11, 2018. The contents of that application areincorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a fishing reel, in particular, to adual-bearing reel capable of releasing a fishing line forward.

Background Information

A dual-bearing reel includes a clutch operating member for switching thetransmitting and blocking of the rotational force from a handle to aspool. The clutch operating member is coupled to a clutch controlmechanism via a clutch plate. Further, the clutch operating member ismovable in the up-down direction at the rear of a reel body and isdisposed with a slight gap between both side plates of the reel body(refer to Japanese Laid-open Patent Application Publication No.2013-153659).

BRIEF SUMMARY

The smaller the gap between the clutch operating member and both sideplates of the reel body, the more the fishing line is prevented fromentering this gap, and thus entanglement of the fishing line is lesslikely to occur. In a conventional clutch operating member, however,when fixing the clutch operating member to the clutch plate with screws,the position to fix the clutch operating member cannot be adjusted. Forthis reason, when the gap between the side plates of the reel body isreduced, the clutch operating member is biased due to a dimensionalerror, whereby the clutch operation member is likely to strongly comeinto contact with one of the side plates. Further, there is apossibility that the gap between the clutch operating member and theside plates becomes imbalanced on the left and right sides, and theappearance is poor in this case.

An object of the present disclosure is to make it possible to disposethe clutch operating member at an appropriate position with respect tothe reel body.

A dual-bearing reel according to an aspect of the present disclosure isconfigured to release a fishing line forward and includes a reel body, aclutch operating member, a clutch plate, and a fixing member. The clutchoperating member is supported on the reel body movably in the up-downdirection. The clutch plate is rotatably supported by the reel body andincludes an extending portion and a through hole formed in the extendingportion, the extending portion extending in the axial direction andfixed to the clutch operating member to be movable integrally with theclutch operating member. The fixing member fixes the clutch operatingmember to the extending portion of the clutch plate via the through holein the clutch plate. The through hole in the clutch plate has aclearance with respect to the fixing member in the axial direction.

In this dual-bearing reel, since the through hole in the clutch platehas a clearance with respect to the fixing member in the axialdirection, the axial position of the clutch operating member withrespect to the reel body can be adjusted and fixed when fixing theclutch operating member to the extending portion of the clutch platewith the fixing member via the through hole. Therefore, even when adimensional error occurs, for example, the clutch operating member canbe disposed at an appropriate position with respect to the reel body byadjusting the axial position of the clutch operating member and fixingthe clutch operating member to the clutch plate.

Preferably, the through hole has a substantially oval shape.

Preferably, the fixing member is a screw member including a head portionand a shaft portion having a diameter smaller than that of the headportion and having a male threaded portion formed on an outer peripheralsurface thereof. The clutch operating member includes a female threadedportion to be screwed to the male threaded portion. In this case, it ispossible to easily and firmly fix the clutch operating member to theextension portion of the clutch plate.

Preferably, the reel body includes a first side plate and a second sideplate disposed apart from the first side plate at an interval in theaxial direction. The clutch operating member is disposed between thefirst side plate and the second side plate in the axial direction. Theclutch operating member is slidable with respect to the first sideplatein the up-down direction. In this case also, the clutch operating membercan be disposed at an appropriate position with respect to the firstside plate of the reel body.

Preferably, the clutch operating member is slidable with respect to thesecond side plate in the up-down direction. In this case, even if thegap between the clutch operating member and both side plates of the reelbody is reduced and the clutch operating member is biased due to adimensional error, the clutch operating member can be prevented fromstrongly coming into contact with one of the side plates. In addition,it is possible to prevent the left and right side gaps between theclutch operating member and the both side plates from becomingimbalanced.

Preferably, the dual-bearing reel further includes a barrier portiondisposed on one of the clutch operating member and the reel body forpreventing a fishing line from entering the gap between the clutchoperating member and the first side plate of the reel body. In thiscase, the clutch operating member can be disposed at an appropriateposition with respect to the first side plate of the reel body, andentanglement of the fishing line between the clutch operating member andthe reel body can be prevented by the barrier portion.

According to the present disclosure, the clutch operating member can bedisposed at an appropriate position with respect to the clutch reelbody.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring now to the attached drawings which forma part of this originaldisclosure:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a dual-bearing reel adopting one embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a frame, a clutch operatingmember, and a clutch plate;

FIG. 3 is a partial plan view of the dual-bearing reel;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the clutch operating member;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the clutch operating member viewed fromthe inside; and

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the clutch plate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following descriptions, when fishing, the direction in which afishing line is unreeled (cast) is referred to as the “front” and theopposite direction is referred to as the “rear”. Further, the term “leftand right” indicates the left and right side when a dual-bearing reel100 is viewed from the rear. Also, the term “axial direction” indicatesan extending direction of a spool shaft 10 (refer to FIG. 2).

The dual-bearing reel 100 adopting an embodiment of the presentdisclosure is configured to release a fishing line forward. As shown inFIGS. 1 to 3, the dual-bearing reel 100 includes a reel body 2, a spool3, a handle 4, a clutch operating member 20, a clutch plate 30, and afixing member 40.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the reel body 2 includes a frame 6, a firstside cover 7 a, and a second side cover 7 b. The frame 6 includes afirst sideplate 6 a, a second side plate 6 b, and a plurality ofcoupling portions 6 c.

The first side plate 6 a is disposed on the right side of the frame 6.The first side plate 6 a includes a first guide plate 16 a mounted on aninner peripheral surface of the rear portion of the first side plate 6a. The second side plate 6 b is disposed on the left side of the frame 6at an interval from the first side plate 6 a in the axial direction. Thesecond side plate 6 b includes a second guide plate 16 b mounted on aninner peripheral surface of the rear portion of the second side plate 6b. It is to be noted that the first guide plate 16 a and the secondguide plate 16 b can be integrally formed with the frame 6.

The first guide plate 16 a and the second guide plate 16 b have guidegrooves 16 f extending substantially in the up-down direction.

The plurality of coupling portions 6 c extend in the axial direction andcouples the first side plate 6 a and the second side plate 6 b.

The first side cover 7 a covers the right side of the first side plate 6a of the frame 6. The second side cover 7 b covers the left side of thesecond side plate 6 b of the frame 6.

The spool 3 is rotatably supported by the reel body 2 between the firstside plate 6 a and the second side plate 6 b. In more detail, the spool3 is fixed to the spool shaft 10 axially penetrating the center thereofand integrally rotates with the spool shaft 10. The spool shaft 10 isrotatably supported by the reel body 2 via a pair of bearings (notshown) disposed in the reel body 2.

The handle 4 is rotatably supported by the reel body 2. The rotation ofthe handle 4 is transmitted to the spool 3 via a rotation transmissionmechanism (not shown). Since the rotation transmission mechanism hereinhas the same configuration as a conventional one, an explanation thereofwill be omitted.

<Clutch Operating Member 20>

The clutch operating member 20 is a member for switching betweentransmitting or blocking of the rotational force to the spool 3 inaccordance with the rotation operation of the handle 4. The clutchoperating member 20 is disposed more rearward than the spool 3 and issupported by the reel body 2 to be movable in the up-down directionbetween the first side plate 6 a and the second side plate 6 b in theaxial direction.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the clutch operating member 20, and the clutchoperating member 20 is movable between a first position indicated by asolid line and a second position indicated by a broken line. When theclutch operating member 20 is in the first position, the rotationalforce of the handle 4 is transmitted to the spool 3. On the other hand,when the clutch operating member 20 is in the second position, therotational force of the handle 4 is not transmitted to the spool 3.

It should be noted that the clutch operating member 20 is configured tomove from the second position to the first position by a clutch returnmechanism (not shown) as the handle 4 rotates in the line windingdirection when the clutch operating member 20 is in the second position.

As shown in FIG. 3, a first side surface 20 a of the clutch operatingmember 20 on the right side thereof is disposed to face the first guideplate 16 a in the axial direction and is slidable with respect to thefirst guide plate 16 a. A second side surface 20 b of the clutchoperating member 20 on the left side thereof is disposed to face thesecond guide plate 16 b in the axial direction and is slidable withrespect to the second guide plate 16 b.

The clutch operating member 20 includes a mounting hole 20 c, a femalethreaded portion 20 d (refer to FIG. 5), a first barrier portion 21, anda second barrier portion 22. The first barrier portion 21 and the secondbarrier portion 22 are examples of a barrier portion.

The mounting hole 20 c is disposed to penetrate the first side surface20 a and the second side surface 20 b of the clutch operating member 20in the axial direction. The mounting hole 20 c is provided for mountingthe clutch operating member 20 to the clutch plate 30, and an extendingportion 30 b (to be described) of the clutch plate 30 passes through themounting hole 20 c.

As shown in FIG. 5, the female threaded portion 20 d is formed on theinner peripheral surface of a boss portion 20 e disposed inside theclutch operating member 20. The female threaded portion 20 d is screwedonto a male threaded portion 40 c (to be described) of the fixing member40.

The first barrier portion 21 is disposed on one side of the clutchoperating member 20 and the reel body 2 and prevents the fishing linefrom entering between the clutch operating member 20 and the first sideplate 6 a of the reel body 2. In the present embodiment, the firstbarrier portion 21 is disposed on the clutch operating member 20. Morespecifically, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the first barrier portion 21 issituated at the upper end of the first side surface 20 a and protrudesfrom the first side surface 20 a toward the first side plate 6 a of thereel body 2. Note that the first barrier portion 21 can be furtherprovided on the lower end side of the first side face 20 a.

The first barrier portion 21 moves integrally with the clutch operatingmember 20. As shown in FIG. 3, the first barrier portion 21 is disposedat a position to face the first guide plate 16 a in the front-reardirection and is slidable along the outer edge of the first guide plate16 a. In addition, an outer side surface 21 a of the first barrierportion 21 faces the first side plate 6 a in the axial direction and isslidable with respect to the first side plate 6 a.

The second barrier portion 22 prevents the fishing line from enteringbetween the clutch operating member 20 and the second side plate 6 b ofthe reel body 2. The second barrier portion 22 protrudes from the secondside surface 20 b of the clutch operating member 20 toward the secondside plate 6 b of the reel body 2. The second barrier portion 22 has asymmetrical shape with the first barrier portion 21, and a detaileddescription thereof will be omitted here.

<Clutch Plate 30>

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the clutch plate 30 is a member having asubstantially L shape in a plan view and includes a mounting portion 30a, the extending portion 30 b, and a through hole 30 c. The clutch plate30 is rotatably supported by the reel body 2. The clutch plate 30connects the clutch operating member 20 to a clutch control mechanism(not shown). In accordance with the operation of the clutch operatingmember 20, the clutch control mechanism connects the spool 3 and thehandle 4 or releases the connection between the spool 3 and the handle4. It should be noted that the clutch control mechanism herein has thesame configuration as a conventional one, and therefore an explanationthereof will be omitted.

The mounting portion 30 a has a ring shape and is rotatably supported onthe outer periphery of a boss portion 6 d disposed on the first sideplate 6 a of the reel body 2.

The extending portion 30 b extends in a plate shape in the axialdirection and is fixed to the clutch operating member 20 so as to beintegrally movable therewith. As shown in FIG. 2, the extending portion30 b is inserted axially from an insertion hole 6 e disposed in thefirst side plate 6 a of the reel body 2 and passes through the mountinghole 20 c of the clutch operating member 20, the guide groove 16 f ofthe first guide plate 16 a, and the guide groove 16 f of the secondguide plate 16 b. The extending portion 30 b is movable along the guidegroove 16 f of the first guide plate 16 a and the guide groove 16 f ofthe second guide plate 16 b, and the mounting portion 30 a is rotated inaccordance with the movement of the extending portion 30 b.

The through hole 30 c is provided for fixing the extending portion 30 bto be integrally movable with the clutch operating member 20 by thefixing member 40. The through hole 30 c is formed in the extendingportion 30 b so as to penetrate the extending portion 30 b in thefront-rear direction. The through hole 30 c of the clutch plate has aclearance with respect to the fixing member 40 in the axial direction.In the present embodiment, the through hole 30 c has a substantiallyoval shape elongated in the axial direction and has a diameter largerthan the inner diameter of the boss portion 20 e of the clutch operatingmember 20 (refer to FIG. 5).

<Fixing Member 40>

As shown in FIG. 5, the fixing member 40 is a member for fixing theclutch operating member 20 to the extending portion 30 b of the clutchplate 30 via the through hole 30 c of the clutch plate 30.

The fixing member 40 is, for example, a screw member, and has a headportion 40 a and a shaft portion 40 b. The head portion 40 a is formedsuch that the outer diameter thereof is larger than the axial length ofthe through hole 30 c of the clutch plate 30 (refer to FIG. 6).

The shaft portion 40 b has a smaller diameter than that of the headportion 40 a, and the shaft portion 40 b includes the male threadedportion 40 c, on the outer peripheral surface, to be screwed to thefemale threaded portion 20 d of the clutch operating member 20. Theshaft portion 40 b passes through the through hole 30 c and is screwedinto the female threaded portion 20 d of the clutch operating member 20.Here, since a clearance is provided in the through hole 30 c in theaxial direction with respect to the fixing member 40, the axial positionof the fixing member 40 with respect to the through hole 30 c can beadjusted. That is, the axial position of the clutch operating member 20with respect to the reel body 2 can be adjusted.

<Fixing Procedure>

In order to fix the clutch operating member 20 to the clutch plate 30,first, the clutch operating member 20 is placed between the first guideplate 16 a of the first side plate 6 a and the second guide plate 16 bof the second side plate 6 b. Next, the extending portion 30 b of theclutch plate 30 is inserted through the insertion hole 6 e of the firstside plate 6 a, whereby the clutch operating member 20 is mounted on theclutch plate 30. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the shaft portion 40 b of thefixing member 40 is screwed into the female threaded portion 20 d of theclutch operating member 20 from the front side of the reel body 2 viathe through hole 30 c, whereby the clutch operating member 20 istemporarily fixed to the clutch plate 30. Subsequently, after adjustingthe axial position of the clutch operating member 20, the clutchoperating member 20 is fixed to the clutch plate 30.

Here, since the through hole 30 c of the clutch plate has a clearancewith respect to the fixing member 40 in the axial direction, the clutchoperating member 20 is able to be fixed to the clutch plate 30 via thethrough hole 30 c after adjusting the axial position of the clutchoperating member 20. With this configuration, even when a dimensionalerror occurs, for example, the clutch operating member 20 can bedisposed at an appropriate position with respect to the reel body 2. Forexample, in the present embodiment, the gap between the clutch operatingmember 20 and the first guide plate 16 a and the gap between the clutchoperating member 20 and the second guide plate 16 b can be preventedfrom becoming unbalanced, thereby improving the appearance of thedual-bearing reel. In addition, the clutch operating member 20 can beprevented from being biased to one side in the left-right directionwhich results in preventing only one of the first guide plate 16 a andthe second guide plate 16 b from strongly contacting the clutchoperating member 20.

Other Embodiments

One embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above;however, the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiment,and a variety of changes can be made without departing from the scope ofthe present disclosure. In particular, a plurality of embodiments andmodifications described in the present specification can be arbitrarilycombined on an as-needed basis.

(a) In the above embodiment, the through hole 30 c of the clutch plate30 has a substantially oval shape, but the through hole 30 c can haveany shape as long as the position of the fixing member 40 in the axialdirection can be adjusted. Further, a configuration can be adopted inwhich multiple through holes 30 c are formed, and the clutch operatingmember 20 can be fixed to the clutch plate 30 by the plurality of fixingmembers 40.

(b) In the above embodiment, the clutch operating member 20 is slidablydisposed with respect to the first side plate 6 a and the second sideplate 6 b. However, the clutch operating member 20 can be disposed so asto be slidable only on one side plate of the first side plate 6 a andthe second side plate 6 b.

(c) In the above embodiment, the first barrier portion 21 and the secondbarrier portion 22 are provided on the clutch operating member 20;however, both of the first barrier portion 21 and the second barrierportion 22 are not always required. In addition, the first barrierportion 21 and the second barrier portion 22 can be provided on the reelbody 2, or only one of the first barrier portion 21 and the secondbarrier portion 22 can be provided on the clutch operating member 20 orthe reel body 2.

What is claimed is:
 1. A dual-bearing reel configured to release afishing line forward, comprising: a reel body; a clutch operating membersupported on the reel body movably in an up-down direction; a clutchplate rotatably supported by the reel body and including an extendingportion and a through hole formed in the extending portion, theextending portion extending in an axial direction and fixed to theclutch operating member to be movable integrally with the clutchoperating member; and a fixing member configured to fix the clutchoperating member to the extending portion of the clutch plate via thethrough hole in the clutch plate, the through hole in the clutch platehaving a clearance with respect to the fixing member in the axialdirection.
 2. The dual-bearing reel according to claim 1, wherein thethrough hole has a substantially oval shape.
 3. The dual-bearing reelaccording to claim 1, wherein the fixing member is a screw memberincluding a head portion and a shaft portion, the shaft portion having asmaller diameter than that of the head portion and having a malethreaded portion formed on an outer peripheral surface thereof, and theclutch operating member includes a female threaded portion to be screwedto the male threaded portion.
 4. The dual-bearing reel according toclaim 3, wherein the clutch operating member further includes a mountinghole configured such that the extending portion of the clutch plate isinserted thereinto, and the male threaded portion is screwed to thefemale threaded portion of the clutch operating member via the throughhole in a state in which the extending portion of the clutch plate isinserted into the mounting hole of the clutch operating member.
 5. Thedual-bearing reel according to claim 1, wherein the reel body includes afirst side plate and a second side plate disposed apart from the firstside plate at an interval in the axial direction, and the clutchoperating member is disposed between the first side plate and the secondside plate in the axial direction and is slidable with respect to thefirst side plate in the up-down direction.
 6. The dual-bearing reelaccording to claim 5, wherein the clutch operating member is slidablewith respect to the second side plate in the up-down direction.
 7. Thedual-bearing reel according to claim 5, further comprising a barrierportion disposed on one of the clutch operating member and the reel bodyto prevent a fishing line from entering between the clutch operatingmember and the first side plate of the reel body.
 8. The dual-bearingreel according to claim 1, wherein the clutch plate further includes amounting ring configured to be rotatably supported on an outer peripheryof a boss portion disposed on the reel body.